Santa Maria della Spina on the Lungarno at blue hour

Pisa has a second face that most day-trippers never see: the Lungarni, the long straight embankments lined with ochre, pink and cream palaces. Halfway along the south bank stands Santa Maria della Spina, a jewel-box church barely bigger than a room, covered in pinnacles and carved figures, standing directly on the river wall.

At blue hour the whole embankment turns into a set. The chapel is floodlit, the palace fronts opposite catch the last colour, and the Arno goes glassy and doubles everything. Shoot from the north bank looking across for the reflection, or right beside the chapel with the row of lamps running away down the quay as a leading line.

It is one of the calmest places in the centre after dark — a wide pavement, little traffic on the riverside street, and no queue for anything. In June the Luminara di San Ranieri (16 June) covers the Lungarni in tens of thousands of candles; magnificent, but the embankments are then packed shoulder to shoulder, so check the date before promising a quiet evening.